An attempt to assess the damage caused by a forest fire led to the discovery of a dead body, on Sunday afternoon, in south Bengaluru and subsequently resulted in the registration of a murder case. A member of the Save Turahalli Forest initiative had walked into the Turahalli forest to check on the extent of the damage caused by Saturday night’s forest fire which had raged for more than an hour. But as soon as she was about to step into the burnt areas, a body was spotted and the police were alerted. This prompted senior police officers including the Deputy Commissioner of Police to rush to the spot.

Speaking on the development, DCP South, Harish Pandey said that a murder case has been registered in Talaghattapura Police Station.

“We have found a dead body with approximately 90-95% burns. The victim is yet to be identified. We know it’s a male person. The forensic doctor will be able to give an ortho-dental analysis by tomorrow and we can probe further,” he told TNM.

He added, “We have ruled out suicide. Nobody can wrap themselves up in a jute bag and pour diesel. Also, we have found a diesel can 30 feet away from the body. Due to the burns, we could not assess other injuries to the body.”

A fire had started and spread very quickly at the Turahalli Reserve Forest on Saturday night. The fire was first noticed at 8.30 pm and the fire raged on for nearly an hour and a half before it could be successfully doused by 10 pm. The fire was put out by the officials with the help of local youths and residents.

There have been previous incidents of fires in the forest, but those were due to people who entered the area to party, according to residents living near the reserve. They alleged that those fires were started by dropped matches or cigarette butts.